I live in the middle of nowhere. In a country where I’m not fluent in the language. And employment opportunities are minimal.

I know what it’s like to feel trapped and stuck in your job. Sometimes there are very real barriers that are keeping you from making those career jumps you’d like to make. However, there are still steps you can take in the right direction, even when you feel limited.

6 Ways to Push Your Career Forward

1. Refresh that resume of yours

Seriously, give it a boost. Update your fonts and colors to make it a bit more aesthetically pleasing, but also update your role descriptions. Likely you’ve accomplished loads more since the last time you updated your resume. You also probably have a different perspective on past roles’ responsibilities, or have better language and understanding in order to describe it as best as possible.

Even if you’re not actively looking for a new job, it will give you a boost of confidence to remind yourself of all the things you’ve accomplished and how far you’ve already come. And when you are ready to apply, it will be much less work to freshen it up.

2. Volunteer

It can be hard to jump into a new industry or role without checking all the requirement boxes, which can feel like a chicken and egg situation. You can’t get the job until you have the experience, but you have to get in the door to get that experience.

Volunteering fills this gap. It’s much easier to get professional development when you’re willing to do it for free! Whether is a subject you’re passionate about, an industry you want to break into, or a different type of position where you want to develop new skills. Choose this intentionally and let it be a stepping stone to your next endeavor.

3. Make some connections

We all know by now that most stories of new opportunities and big breaks come from people’s connections. So make some new ones, strengthen current ones, and refresh old ones.

This ties in well with volunteering because you’re expanding your network in a really organic way, that won’t feel forced. Who is in your current circle? Are you putting your best foot forward in your company? Are you impressing the right people, so that one day down the line, you have excellent references? And what about that person you worked with at your previous job? Ask them to grab lunch or a coffee and reconnect.

4. Build a website

You need to be your own best advocate. With more and more jobs becoming remote, competition is stronger, and job applications now often have a field for ‘website’ on their forms. A website is another way you can stand out and express yourself.

The great thing is, it doesn’t have to fit into a box. Professional websites used to be reserved for creatives who needed to showcase their portfolio, but today people use them in different ways. Showcase your achievements, share your knowledge via a blog, start a newsletter - get creative and mesh your personality, passions and professional experience all in one if you like.

Also, it’s relatively cheap and easy even if you’ve never done any web editing.

5. Find new opportunities within your current role

Depending on your company and its organizational structure, this may or may not be an option. But it never hurts to ask! Want to be a part of a new project? Want more responsibility for what you’re currently doing? Have an idea of what you should be working on and propose it. Create your own opportunities. But more importantly, show initiative. Sometimes it just takes showing that you want more for it to be presented to you.

Recognize if you’re getting complacent in your role. (From experience!) sometimes it takes stepping back in a big way to realize that you might have been limiting yourself.

6. Keep learning

Are MOOCs still a thing?

If you want to take a step forward and need some new skills, you aren’t limited to just getting them within your current role. We’re so fortunate that the modern world wide web of 2019 provides ample opportunities to learn or build a new skill. Be it finding free courses or paying for them, if you want to learn something new, you can do it online. So take advantage of that. Dive into something you’ve always wanted to, or something you never dreamt you could.

You have options. You have opportunities. Even when you might feel like you don’t, look a bit deeper. Push yourself forward.